Daniel: Hey Chris! What are you most excited about moving into next year? Can you also give us a comment on the culture and connection being built, especially with a few new faces around?

Chris Davies: “I think with the start of every year, you're excited about the opportunity of what the next season can bring you into this period of time with great hopes, not wanting to put any sort of ceiling on the team's performance. So for us, it's exciting to think about the new players that we've got, the new coaches that we've got, and how we can bring those together to be successful and put something in place for the future in 2026.

“That [culture and connection] has definitely been the challenge so far. And when I say challenge, both the coaches and players have embraced that with a number of new players that we've got and the number of new coaches and other staff that have been brought into the Club.

“The challenge right now has been about integrating them as much as we possibly can into some of the things that have been done previously and then expose the opportunity that exists for new things down the track, with new names and faces coming in, and new skill sets.”

Ben: What have been the main focuses in training?

Chris Davies: “So far, we've been concentrating a lot on the way that we move the footy. You know, there's an inherent ability at this club from a contest perspective that Michael and the players have put together over a decent period of time. The next iteration of what we need to do is move the ball a bit more freely and certainly be able to connect inside 50. There's been a lot of work that's been done so far on that.

David: How do we go about developing an uncompromising, hard edge in this team and club?

Chris Davies: “I think that comes from confidence in both your preparation and your ability. I don't want to fast forward too much down the line, other than to say that the players are working really hard at the moment. I think the best way that we can get a real edge about us is to have a level of comfort in the way that we've prepared and to make sure that that's being done at the best of our ability, in order to give us confidence to be able to compete when that time comes.

Nick: In 2025 we seemed one dimensional with our forward line structure and entries inside 50: can we expect a more unpredictable and dynamic forward line in 2026?

Chris Davies: “I think from a personnel perspective, yes. The players that we've brought in from other clubs so far and seeing the development of some of our own, I think that will make us a more dynamic forward line in 2026. Certainly that's going to be one thing that we need to be better at in order for us to be more successful than what we were in in 2025.

“I think the players that we brought in - Ainsworth, Hayward, development of some of our younger players who get another preseason under their belt - I think we can be a lot better in that area of the ground.

Gerweee: How are we tackling player loads this year compared to previous years, and how we're managing high performance versus remaining injury free this preseason.

Chris Davies: “I don't think that those two need to be mutually exclusive. The want for our players to be out on the track is definitely there from both the high performance team and the coaches, and it’s important to have players out there for as long as they possibly can be in a safe manner. What I don't want is to have just a safe environment where we're not pushing our players from a physical perspective.

“We want them to have the mentality of getting out there, and if we need to pull them back, we will. But fundamentally from a philosophical standpoint, we want them out there training as much as they possibly can. It’s a long season, you've got to put the work in through this period. We would all have seen countless players who haven't had great pre-seasons, and therefore their season is compromised. We want to make sure all of our players get the best exposure throughout pre-season to a significant workload.”

KSF Motivation: What's your number one priority going into next season?

Chris Davies: “I think it's to make sure that there's great connection both within the coaching group and within the playing group, and across both of those groups. We've had a significant number of changes to both of those areas.

“For right now, our focus has absolutely been on the way that our coaches work together, the way that our players work together - bringing that that those two groups together is going to be of fundamental importance, and the way that we continue to do that after Christmas will be important. I think that we've got some different skill sets in 2026 than we had in 2025 and I'm definitely looking to expose those and challenge the people involved as much as we can.”

Ben: How would you measure success for 2026?

Chris Davies: Given where we've come from, success needs to be viewed as what things are we putting in place that are going to allow this footy club to be good for a good period of time, to avoid the ups and downs as much as we possibly can and start to think about sustainable performance into the future. And that's definitely been my focus. It's certainly been what I've been saying to the coaches, and the coaches are absolutely on board with that.

“Right now, we just need to lower our eyes and think about what we can do every day in order to have a greater connection within the group, and a greater ability specifically to move the ball. They're the things that I think will stand us in good stead longer term. Rather than just focusing on where we want to finish from a ladder position, this needs to be rethinking that and actually starting to think about putting things in place that are going to stand us in good stead, not just for 2026 but into the future.

Oliver: What does a typical day during the season look like for a GM of Football?

Chris Davies: Well, that depends on which day of the week it is!  If we're training, I tend to try and walk some laps, watch training, engage with the staff. If I need to get some information from some of our staff members, I invite them to come on a couple of laps… that's something that I've done for a decent period of time.

“Once training is finished, I try and engage with the coaches on what I've seen go well. It's important that we acknowledge the things every day that the people in the program are doing well. That gives me the best platform to also have the discussions - when I feel like I need to - as to what maybe isn't going so well. Then after lunch, it’s tidying up whatever operational stuff that that needs to happen.

“It’s an interesting role, definitely.”

Cosmo the Whippet: Are you enjoying being at the mighty Blues?

Chris Davies: “Cosmo, I can absolutely confirm that I'm enjoying being at the Blues. Having a long love of this Club, it has definitely given me an extra motivation for the job. At the end of the day, I'm a professional person, and so from that standpoint, I want to be as good as I possibly can myself.

“But equally, I want to be one of the people here who drives the squad's performance and drives the people around the squad's performance, the support staff. It's an enjoyable job, and I'm definitely looking forward to what we can achieve down the track.”